Finally, after hunting for weeks for some scrap of information on registering a Fictitious Business Name, I have finally found it. To my pleasant surprise it was a good bit cheaper than I thought.
The web page was wonderfully well hidden at the Greenville County's web site (finding that alone, took some google searching).
One would think that on some (if not all) small business help sites someone somewhere would have a link to this tiny, but much needed page.
I'm thankful to have finally found it. If I had my druthers, I'd be more than happy to have an online form to fill out. As it is, I guess I'll use snail mail.
Tonny Blair's speech to Congress this afternoon included this statement along with a focus on "universal values."
Mr. Blair has a very good sense of what C.S. Lewis called the Law of Nature.
Feel free to expand these thoughts with your comments, as I lack currently the time.
Well folks, it's finally happened. AOL has had enough fun courting the techies for a time (they did a horrible job of it I might add). After their recent deal with Microsoft for a 7 year IE contract it's not too shocking that they dispanded Netscape yesterday. They've even taken the logos of the building.
Happily for the browser world, the Mozilla Foundation was created. That means there is still hope for the future of the Web.
The battle's thickened a bit.
Back into the fray I go...
I'm hunting for a Web Content Management System. I'm finding that it's a lot like buying a house or a car. There are trillions of choices, and many of them are good. I'm still looking for the one that's the perfect fit (right price, well built, expandable).
The difference between buying a CMS and buying a house is that I plan on reselling the CMS I find. I hope to customize it for each of my customers so that it fits there needs. Eventually, I'd like to by selling CMS's too.
If there are so many CMS's, why in the world would I want to join the throng? It's probably the same reason many of the other people started their CMS's. I'm having trouble finding one that meets all my needs (or at least gives me the ability to meet my needs when I have more time and money). I'm pretty sure that the one I build won't meet everyone's needs, but I hope it comes close. 8o)
Christ talked many times about how He provides for His children and the rest of His creation. He talked about clothing the lilies of the field. He's aware of each sparrow that falls. He even has a count of how many hairs you have on your head.
Do you ever wonder if the birds sing because their happy? or if they just sing because they don't know what else to do with their time? <aside>Now granted, I'm sure there's some scientific explanation for most of their singing, but what about the times when there isn't. And so what if there is. I can come up with all sorts of scientific reason's why I'm happy, but none of them touch the real Source. It's the same for the birds I think.</aside> Ok, back to what I was saying.
The Lord has built us all with the ability to enjoy. We enjoy life, food, friends, family, nature, smells. We to often forget their Source.
Now when I say that we forget their Source. I don't just mean that we forget to say "thank you" or that we take the happiness for granted (both of which happen far to frequently). My thoughts currently are on the fact that we often are afraid to enjoy what God has given us.
In this case, we have truely forgotten The Source. We have forgotten what He is like (or perhaps we don't yet know). God is Love. Remember that passage in 1 John 4? "True Love casts out fear." Why does it cast out fear? Because fear has to do with punishment. I think we're afraid to enjoy things because we think we should be punished instead or perhaps that we'll be punished for enjoying them.
Being concerned with punishment is not totally unfounded. It is true that we have done nothing to deserve the enjoyment God gives us through things on His earth and in Himself. In a way, though, that's partly the point. That's one of the reasons the gifts are so enjoyable. If we deserved them, our enjoyment would have the same furvor as getting a paycheck. You've done the work; you deserve to get paid.
Gifts are different. God's gifts are very different. He doesn't give us things because we deserve them. He doesn't even give us gifts merely because He knows we'll enjoy them. He gives them to us because He is Love. His gifts bring us happiness, which in turn brings Him happiness. It all happens at the same time, so that the line is blurred between enjoyment of giving and the enjoyment of getting. Anything done out of Love is this way.
If you give someone a gift, you want them to enjoy it. If they don't, your disappointed. How often are we afraid to enjoy what God gives us no matter how big or no matter how small? Do we take what He gives us with full and complete enjoyment? Do we let ourselves be overwhelmed with the happiness He's given us? Or do we hold back? Do we stop our laughter? calm a smile? or even move away from the gift? Are we afraid to be this happy?
God is Love. There is no fear in Him, and there should be no fear of what He gives us. If we fear that He will not let us truely enjoy the gift or that He'll snatch it back just as we think we couldn't be happier? If we fear those things of Him do we really believe He is Love? Do we really know what Love is?
There is much to learn of God's Love. His steadfast Love endures for every. His greatness is unsearchable. His mercy past finding out.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to Live an entire Life in His Love? To know full and complete happiness from the Father. To trust Him. To let Him bring joy or pain with each moment knowing that His care for you (His Love) exceeds all experiences. He heals the wounds He makes. He brings us joy so that we might sing His praise.
It's ok to be this happy.
Larry Burkett passed away on the 4th of July after battling cancer.
David, Solomon, Moses, the prophets, and others all seemed to have something we lacked. They lived out the Truth that they knew. It came out in everything they did. David's poetry in the Psalms. Solomon's Love and wisdom. Moses' leadership. The prophets faithful and often painful revelations of God's Truth to their people. They lived out their Love. They lived out the Truth that YHWH was teaching them. It came out in their writings, in their Love, in their art, in their dreams, and in their work.
I suppose we feel "short handed" these days, because we hesitate to live out the Truth that is in us. The Apostles lived out the Truth even to their deaths. Paul's entire life was wrapped up in Living for Christ. "For me to live, is Christ. To die, is gain." There wasn't anything else for Paul. There shouldn't be anything else for us.
We hold back in our lives, our art, our Love. We're afraid to live for fear of ridicule. Our artwork is timid and shallow, because we dread review. Our Love is restrained and too often selfish, because we fear disappointment or pain.
We are dead to sin. Alive to Christ. We are crusified to the elementary things of the world. We are not subject to the things of this world. They are all now tools for the Spirit. Our dreams, our thoughts, our bodies, our strengths, our weaknesses, our friendships, and our affections are all His to use. In Salvation He is continually working through us to make us more like Himself. "To be conformed to the image of His Son." His Son was God incarnate.
The God-Man, the Second Adam, the Tree of Life, has brought us "full salvation." It's not merely a once in a life-time-fire-insurance-now-I've-got-eterenity-so-I-can-squander-today sort of salvation. That would be know salvation at all. Christ's gift to us is complete. It covers every facet of life. Every grain of sand. Whether we eat or drink, it is all for Him or it is nothing.
Those who have not yet known the Truth often live more fully, more completely than the Children of Light. Perhaps it is because we hesitate for fear of failure or sin. But we have been made free through the blood of Christ. We have been washed and are pure. "There is no fear in Love." Our simple objective is to Live in Love. To completely give ourselves over to the Salvation that is being worked in us. To let the Spirit have complete and total sway in our lives.
"Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Galations 5:16, ESV).
"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit" (Galations 5:25, ESV).
Why does everything take so long. I work on my finances; 20 minutes gone. I play with TypePad; 45 minutes gone. I write this blog; 4... not done yet...
Everything takes time. I guess you knew that. Reading this blog entry is taking time (so's writing it).
I guess, since everything takes time (and we have a very limited supply of it), then we should be very careful how we use it.
I'm confident that I squander mine all to frequently. I have the hardest time picking what thing needs to be done when.
Those little priority settings in To Do List applications are all well and good, but they don't help me much unless I set them. It's hard to find time to prioritize when that's one of the things on the list. I suppose that should be one of the first things. Or maybe not.
Perhaps the first thing on my list should be to rest in the fact that it doesn't all have to get done. No really. If the planets revolutions around the Sun depended on how I spent my time, then we could all begin worrying about Benjamin's schedule. Since it doesn't, happily, there's one less thing that I have to worry about.
Going far beyond that silly example, there is the Truth that everything I do under the sun is worthless. Really. Vanity is the word Solomon used for it. His book, Ecclesiasties, is full of how "stupid" (my word) life is. He talks about how living foolishly is the dumbest thing we can do, but he even talks about how living wisely (by itself) doesn't get you much farther.
His "conclusion of the whole matter" is that we only have one reason to live: to fear God and keep His commandments. Sound crazy? Sound to simple? Try living for anything else and see if your completely satisfied.
I'm not quite sure what happens to all the time. I guess I need to blend blogging back into my life like it used to be back into the early days. I shouldn't get "too busy" to blog if I make it part of what I "need" to do.
It seems there's a lesson about "redeeming the time" somewhere in all of this. 8o)
Well folks, it looks like I made the cut. 8o) I get to be a TypePad beta tester!
I've been using Moveable Type since early last fall. I've set up a number of blogs for some friends, and have recently (as time allows) been digging into customizing the blogging experience.
I've read a bit about SixApart on their blogs. I've been inspired by their work and their quick and steady progress into the web world. Ben and Mena have done a marvolous thing by bringing web publishing to the rest of the world. I hope Tim Berners-Lee is proud. 8o)